Be real. Please, can we please be real? For just a moment, you, reading this behind your screen, can you be real? Can you feel your chest move with a deep breath? Feel the muscles in your face and shoulders relax? Stop the autopilot. Tune in.
Think about this world. Think about every living thing in this world. Just look around. Every person you’ve loved, every animal you’ve pet, and every plant you’ve admired. Now think about every inanimate thing in this world. Every bed you’ve coddled, every food you’ve indulged, every clothing that has served you. It’s a miracle you are reading this.
Now, is this the world we want? Are beheaded Palestinian children burned alive what you want? Are children working to death mining the cobalt for your iPhone in the Congo what you want? Are abortion bans in America what you want? Are National Guard troops patrolling the New York subway what you want? I promise, one day, no matter how much you look away, you will be Palestinian. You will cry for the world to care.
The anger that we hold in our bodies serves the cause of justice if we use it correctly. It reminds us we are alive and members of the interconnected universe. I would never wish, on my worst enemy, the moral apathy I see in front of me. As James Baldwin writes, it’s terrifying. We hold responsibility whether we acknowledge it or not, and apathetic ignorance is white supremacy in action.
Let yourself feel it. Feel it all. Bear witness. Care about things. I don’t choose to spend this short life devoid of this earth and her children. I choose to step forward, scared and shaking, towards building a new world. Answer the call, and free yourself from hopelessness. Every system is built to dismantle our collective power, but we have no other choice. The answer is clear. Reorient your grief. Join hands with your fellow citizens, strong, and yell. Hear us sing through the streets of New York, the core and wallet of Western imperialism, “The people. United. Will never. Be. Defeated.”
Please, be real. Now is the time. Free Palestine. All Eyes on Rafah.